China's technology conglomerate, Alibaba Group Holding, will increase more than twice its research and development spending (up to USD 15 billion) over the next three years to develop the next generation of technology, boost its growing business and explore ambitious projects, which could change the industries. This is reported by Bloomberg agency quoted by Investor.bg.

The company plans to set up seven laboratories and hire 100 scientists around the world to embark on more research into artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and quantum computers. Spheres in which it focuses include machine self-learning and network security.

The program represents a significant increase in research and development spending and aims to help the giant company worth more than  USD 469 billion keep the pace maintained by Amazon.com and Tencent Holdings in the changing industries.

All this is in line with the ambitions of Chinese politicians who want their country to become a global leader in artificial intelligence.

"Labs will help solve the problems Alibaba is currently facing in its business processes," said Jeff Zhang, chief technology officer at Alibaba. "They will also be the foundation for the next generation of technologies," he said.

For comparison, Alibaba has invested USD 6.4 billion in research and development over the last three fiscal years, according to Bloomberg.

At the moment, Alibaba has 25,000 engineers and scientists, spending an average of 20 billion yuan (USD 3 billion) a year on research, the company said in a statement.

After 831 days, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. regained the title of the world’s biggest e-commerce company, albeit briefly. The Chinese retailer surpassed Amazon.com Inc. Tuesday on an intraday basis as the U.S. retail giant’s stock continued to stall after second-quarter earnings missed estimates and the merchant forecast a possible operating loss for the third quarter.

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